EIU Mental Health Early Action

Mental Health First Aid

Mental Health First Aid is a skills-based training course that teaches participants how to identify, understand, and respond to mental health and substance-use issues. Just as CPR helps you assist an individual having a heart attack, Mental Health First Aid helps you assist someone experiencing a mental health or substance use-related crisis. In the Mental Health First Aid course, you learn risk factors and warning signs for mental health and addiction concerns, strategies for how to help someone in both crisis and non-crisis situations, and where to turn for help. Topics covered include depression, anxiety, trauma, and substance use.

Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is an evidence-based training created by the National Council for Mental Wellbeing designed to provide participants with the skills to identify, destigmatize, understand, and respond to signs of mental illnesses and substance use disorder, enabling those trained to offer immediate, concrete support.

MHFA has shown to be effective internationally. Peer-reviewed studies show that individuals trained in the program: 

• Grow their knowledge of signs, symptoms, and risk factors of mental illnesses and addictions. 
• Can identify multiple types of professional and self-help resources for individuals with a mental illness or addiction. 
• Increase their confidence in and likelihood to help an individual in distress. 
• Show increased mental wellness themselves.

MHFA is not designed to replace the work of mental health professionals. Those who successfully complete the MHFA training will become a certified Mental Health First Aider. Mental Health First Aiders’ professional roles and responsibilities will not change as a result of this training. They are also under no obligation to publicly disclose that they have been trained in MHFA. 

 Spring 2024 training dates

April 15th 9:00 AM-3:30 PM Klehm Hall Room 1418 Sign-Up Here!

April 12th & 19th (must attend both) Time and Location TBD. Hosted by Teaching, Learning, and Foundations (sign up link to follow)

Interested in Attending a Training?

If you or your department is interested in either attending or hosting a MHFA training, please fill out the machform below. Once we recieve your submission, our staff will work with our trainers to accomodate you. Please answer all areas of the form so that our staff can accmodate you or reach out to you should we need more information.

Interest Form:

Click here to let us know your interest!

Questions?

Contact herc-mphr_marketing@eiu.edu with any questions!